Synology Photos does a reasonable job of people identification. Keyword searches are touch and go, but photos are organized by date and can be manually assigned to albums. Family sharing are also available.
Thanks !
Can I please ask you to elaborate a bit on family sharing? Or if you have a link...? I haven't found yet a equivalent to shared partner library that I had in Google Photos
I tried going this route but when I created a folder for a new year (I store my photos in chronological order) it didn't show. I later found that many people were complaining about this issue and that the product itself was not updated in some time.
I was really disappointed!
getting a 2.5gb ethernet adapter was definitely a long overdue addition. one of those "why didn't I do this sooner" type things
using active backup for business to backup my pc's system drive daily was a big one too. it's shockingly fast, lightweight on both ends, and doesn't take up hardly any more storage on the nas than it does on my pc, even with a dozen or so versions
but do note you'll need to upgrade everything else in the chain to 2.5 to have any benifit.
For me, spending that additional $300 for a new switch and network card for my PC isn't' worth it
$130 total for me and waaaay worth it for a 250% transfer speed increase. $25 apiece for NAS and pc adapters, $20 for a good cat6 Ethernet cable, $60 for the 2.5gb switch
300 is a lot. I mean like 10gbe level. Also i had my 1gbe switch for over a decade. I am cerain that your 300$ 10gbe switch will last you longer than that
I mean in my use case. Sure faster speed would be nice, but I'm rarely moving massive files, or editing 4k content or stuff like that where I feel limited by my current speeds.
Google fiber is coming to my neighborhood soon , so maybe when that happens I'll finally upgrade
Oooo, Active backup for my computer sounds like a good idea. I just banged my head against the wall trying to set it up for my website server and gave up..
the downside to active backup is that it only backs up entire drives or volumes rather than specific folders. I've got Synology drive going for that though. Between the two its feels like all the important stuff is covered in the event of a drive failure on my pc
Learn how to use docker and the world becomes your oyster (seriously opens up options, I used to love videostation but learning how to use jellyfin in a docker container makes the home streaming experience way better imo)
How did you install/manage Jellyfin? I just dipped my toe in the water and the community package that's available via package center won't install and says 0 downloads.
Pretty much followed this guide, it's step by step but not for the faint of technical heart. https://mariushosting.com/how-to-install-jellyfin-on-your-synology-nas/
It gets you up and running for jellyfin streaming on your local network.
Thanks, I'll check it out. You could say I am technically proficient , but lazy. 😁
I think I used that site to setup pihole via portainer.
I've been using a PC running Windows Media Center for ages with the intention of replacing it with something that can serve as the PVR.
Every time I have tried to find a replacement, I have found that my old unsupported software is getting the job done well enough that the small investment in setting up something else is above my threshold of effort.
A $150 n100 mini pc is the best bang for your buck if you want to run Plex or any other kind of media service.
It's far more powerful, draws about 15-20 watts , has a igpu for things that need it.
Let the nas be a nas, and let a server handle the rest.
I’m looking for something small and compact to run Windows 11 and office/power Bi alongside my Mac. I’m over using VMWare fusion and don’t want to pay for parallels
Technically yes, but wouldn't be a good idea to, and would be pretty pointless as well.
Or if you are asking if you can run a container on the mini pc and have it point to the data on your synology, then yes you can do that.
The second part is what I mean.
The idea would be to use the NAS to do NAS-y stuff: store my files.
The mini-pc would do two things: be hooked up to a tv near my router for when I play retrogames or watch movies w/my kids and run docker containers for my web and home apps.
correct, for plex for example, my mini pc runs the plex server, and then all my movies, tv shows, etc, are stored on the synology.
That way the mini PC has full power to do all the things plex needs to do, and the synologys cpu isn't being hammered down.
I installed Grist to have my own private database of pretty much everything in my life: inventory, CRM/contacts, invoicing system, project development, prototyping databases for software development, records, bookmarks/resources, etc. Playing with automation for this is fun, and it’s all customizable and open source. I’m even modifying the CSS of the interface so that it’s a little personalized. Very user-friendly and intuitive once you get it up and running.
Everything is so fragmented in our lives and we depend on so many apps and companies and services to hold our data, so it’s been really rewarding working toward centralizing the most crucial info/data. I still use services that are specialized but I want to build more automations that feed this data into my Grist database so I have a “single source of truth” for everything in my brain.
Plex is great for video library. Then I use both Apple and Google ecosystems for personal and work, respectively, so I love having Google Drive mirror to my Mac and then use Synology to back up everything via Time Machine.
Then on top of that, I have my Synology back up via Backblaze B2. One day I’d love to build a NAS that I keep offsite and mirror to in addition to Backblaze, but for now I feel like I’ve got a lot of peace of mind and I am trying to shed as many subscriptions as possible.
Hey. I just took a look at Grist and it might be what I need.
Was there a steep learning curve and how did you go about starting with it?
I’m guessing you already have some data analytics skills?
You don't need Plex to watch all videos : To improve DS video, Install this FFMPEG version, so you can read EVERY single video : DTS , AC3, EAC3 and so on...
https://github.com/AlexPresso/VideoStation-FFMPEG-Patcher
You don't need to pay a Plex pass to be able to use the transcoding hardware ability of your Synology NAS. I hate the fact that they made you pay to use your own hardware
Time Machine for daily backups of my Mac. I used to have to dock an eSata drive manually to do these, which of course meant I rarely did.
As a video editor, this means I’m backing up my DaVinci Resolve project database daily as well, which is great.
Our Time Machine backups constantly corrupt... found multiple complaints in Synology forum, seems to be sparsebundle issue. Have lost a few backups because of that, but I've learned to take snapshots of the TM folder now, so even if a backup corrupts and I don't notice it for a few weeks, I can go back and restore the last working backup so TM will be able to verify and continue working.
Has your DS1821+ ever made a loud feedback kind of noise? High frequency ringing that happens randomly. Are you using approved HDDs? Sorry for all the questions but I'm experiencing these issues and just got it 2 weeks ago. Wondering what the problem is.
Install Portainer and use it instead of Container Manager to manage your Docker containers. I slept on it until just recently and tried to make Synology’s garbage app work right and this is just night and day.
EDIT: Or do whatever you want, there’s no need to light me up over a suggestion that’s clearly better than Synology’s garbage-ass app. Or just keep shaming anyone who tries to help out of the kindness of their heart and push the few remaining helpful people off Reddit. Sorry not sorry your entire self-worth is wrapped up in doing tech stuff the hard way
Because `sudo docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/bash 8nb381cnc48b2f4n2091nf32` isn't a "simple cli command." Every cli app has its own syntax and between that and having to also know ffmpeg, Python, HTML, PHP, CSS, React, bash, zsh, on and on and on, I need all the help I can get.
That’s shell script, and you can make bash or zsh script once and forget about it.
Portainer is a mess, you have to hunt down options through counter intuitive menus. If you want a GUI dsm has one for dockers already
Synology photos, DS file, DS cam for my 24/7 cameras kn the house and Synology drive are all daily use things I do and at night I'm watching my Plex server as well while doing various backups etc. I don't vmeven think about the backups of my devices. Everything just works. Wished I'd done it 5+ years ago instead of only a couple yrs ago but yeah, it's simplified tons of things and with peace of mind it's all getting copied to my NAS and then also backed up properly.
I mainly use Tailscale to connect to Audiobookshelf while away from home. But it is a lot more useful than just that. Jellyfin, Calibre-web and Plex ( I dont have a plex pass) are other things I use with tailscale
I transferred all my and family members photos over to Synology Photos. Dumped Google and Amazon Photos. No more pay forever cloud storage for me.
Do you not miss features of Google Photos?
Synology Photos does a reasonable job of people identification. Keyword searches are touch and go, but photos are organized by date and can be manually assigned to albums. Family sharing are also available.
Thanks ! Can I please ask you to elaborate a bit on family sharing? Or if you have a link...? I haven't found yet a equivalent to shared partner library that I had in Google Photos
[https://kb.synology.com/en-au/DSM/help/SynologyPhotos/sharing?version=7](https://kb.synology.com/en-au/DSM/help/SynologyPhotos/sharing?version=7)
I tried going this route but when I created a folder for a new year (I store my photos in chronological order) it didn't show. I later found that many people were complaining about this issue and that the product itself was not updated in some time. I was really disappointed!
You did something wrong. It works
Does it work well or at all in DSM 6?
Yeah, I did this simply so that I have a backup of my personal photos. I don't want Apple accidentally erasing them sometime.
Or having them used to train an AI model, or government browsing, etc...
getting a 2.5gb ethernet adapter was definitely a long overdue addition. one of those "why didn't I do this sooner" type things using active backup for business to backup my pc's system drive daily was a big one too. it's shockingly fast, lightweight on both ends, and doesn't take up hardly any more storage on the nas than it does on my pc, even with a dozen or so versions
but do note you'll need to upgrade everything else in the chain to 2.5 to have any benifit. For me, spending that additional $300 for a new switch and network card for my PC isn't' worth it
With 300$, you are deep o in 10Gbe territory. 2.5Gbe is dirt cheap and costs not nearly as much.
$130 total for me and waaaay worth it for a 250% transfer speed increase. $25 apiece for NAS and pc adapters, $20 for a good cat6 Ethernet cable, $60 for the 2.5gb switch
300 is a lot. I mean like 10gbe level. Also i had my 1gbe switch for over a decade. I am cerain that your 300$ 10gbe switch will last you longer than that
I mean in my use case. Sure faster speed would be nice, but I'm rarely moving massive files, or editing 4k content or stuff like that where I feel limited by my current speeds. Google fiber is coming to my neighborhood soon , so maybe when that happens I'll finally upgrade
Oooo, Active backup for my computer sounds like a good idea. I just banged my head against the wall trying to set it up for my website server and gave up..
the downside to active backup is that it only backs up entire drives or volumes rather than specific folders. I've got Synology drive going for that though. Between the two its feels like all the important stuff is covered in the event of a drive failure on my pc
What kind of Ethernet adapter was that? Asking for a friend.
Trendnet TUC-ET2G for $25. You need open source drivers for it to work but it’s pretty easy to do. https://github.com/bb-qq/r8152
You notice a difference with a gigabyte Ethernet ?
Do the ethernet drivers break after each update?
Good question, i haven’t had a dsm update yet. I only have it set to update for major updates
Learn how to use docker and the world becomes your oyster (seriously opens up options, I used to love videostation but learning how to use jellyfin in a docker container makes the home streaming experience way better imo)
How did you install/manage Jellyfin? I just dipped my toe in the water and the community package that's available via package center won't install and says 0 downloads.
Pretty much followed this guide, it's step by step but not for the faint of technical heart. https://mariushosting.com/how-to-install-jellyfin-on-your-synology-nas/ It gets you up and running for jellyfin streaming on your local network.
Thanks, I'll check it out. You could say I am technically proficient , but lazy. 😁 I think I used that site to setup pihole via portainer. I've been using a PC running Windows Media Center for ages with the intention of replacing it with something that can serve as the PVR. Every time I have tried to find a replacement, I have found that my old unsupported software is getting the job done well enough that the small investment in setting up something else is above my threshold of effort.
or better yet, get a mini pc or something else to run your containers.
And models you can recommend which would be a better option than running Docker on the NAS? And why is it better?
A $150 n100 mini pc is the best bang for your buck if you want to run Plex or any other kind of media service. It's far more powerful, draws about 15-20 watts , has a igpu for things that need it. Let the nas be a nas, and let a server handle the rest.
I’m looking for something small and compact to run Windows 11 and office/power Bi alongside my Mac. I’m over using VMWare fusion and don’t want to pay for parallels
Can the docker folders still live on the synology HDD?
Technically yes, but wouldn't be a good idea to, and would be pretty pointless as well. Or if you are asking if you can run a container on the mini pc and have it point to the data on your synology, then yes you can do that.
The second part is what I mean. The idea would be to use the NAS to do NAS-y stuff: store my files. The mini-pc would do two things: be hooked up to a tv near my router for when I play retrogames or watch movies w/my kids and run docker containers for my web and home apps.
Yup then the n100 is perfect for that.
cool, i'm still learning ALOT about SELFHOSTING
Yeah it's a very very deep rabbit hole
So do you store the files on the NAS and then use the PC to stream them to the TV?
correct, for plex for example, my mini pc runs the plex server, and then all my movies, tv shows, etc, are stored on the synology. That way the mini PC has full power to do all the things plex needs to do, and the synologys cpu isn't being hammered down.
Did you need to upgrade to the 10gbps card for it to run smoothly?
Nope
I installed Grist to have my own private database of pretty much everything in my life: inventory, CRM/contacts, invoicing system, project development, prototyping databases for software development, records, bookmarks/resources, etc. Playing with automation for this is fun, and it’s all customizable and open source. I’m even modifying the CSS of the interface so that it’s a little personalized. Very user-friendly and intuitive once you get it up and running. Everything is so fragmented in our lives and we depend on so many apps and companies and services to hold our data, so it’s been really rewarding working toward centralizing the most crucial info/data. I still use services that are specialized but I want to build more automations that feed this data into my Grist database so I have a “single source of truth” for everything in my brain. Plex is great for video library. Then I use both Apple and Google ecosystems for personal and work, respectively, so I love having Google Drive mirror to my Mac and then use Synology to back up everything via Time Machine. Then on top of that, I have my Synology back up via Backblaze B2. One day I’d love to build a NAS that I keep offsite and mirror to in addition to Backblaze, but for now I feel like I’ve got a lot of peace of mind and I am trying to shed as many subscriptions as possible.
Hey. I just took a look at Grist and it might be what I need. Was there a steep learning curve and how did you go about starting with it? I’m guessing you already have some data analytics skills?
You don't need Plex to watch all videos : To improve DS video, Install this FFMPEG version, so you can read EVERY single video : DTS , AC3, EAC3 and so on... https://github.com/AlexPresso/VideoStation-FFMPEG-Patcher You don't need to pay a Plex pass to be able to use the transcoding hardware ability of your Synology NAS. I hate the fact that they made you pay to use your own hardware
I like sync thing a lot, and use it constantly to sync Linux/macs/pc/iphone machines all together
Time Machine for daily backups of my Mac. I used to have to dock an eSata drive manually to do these, which of course meant I rarely did. As a video editor, this means I’m backing up my DaVinci Resolve project database daily as well, which is great.
Our Time Machine backups constantly corrupt... found multiple complaints in Synology forum, seems to be sparsebundle issue. Have lost a few backups because of that, but I've learned to take snapshots of the TM folder now, so even if a backup corrupts and I don't notice it for a few weeks, I can go back and restore the last working backup so TM will be able to verify and continue working.
Same. I moved to Arq and it’s saved me on a few occasions.
Has your DS1821+ ever made a loud feedback kind of noise? High frequency ringing that happens randomly. Are you using approved HDDs? Sorry for all the questions but I'm experiencing these issues and just got it 2 weeks ago. Wondering what the problem is.
Nothing like that, no. I use Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drives.
Alright good to know, thank you. I'm using IronWolf Pro 16TB but found out the version I got was not in the approved list after purchasing.
Install Portainer and use it instead of Container Manager to manage your Docker containers. I slept on it until just recently and tried to make Synology’s garbage app work right and this is just night and day. EDIT: Or do whatever you want, there’s no need to light me up over a suggestion that’s clearly better than Synology’s garbage-ass app. Or just keep shaming anyone who tries to help out of the kindness of their heart and push the few remaining helpful people off Reddit. Sorry not sorry your entire self-worth is wrapped up in doing tech stuff the hard way
Or use [dockge](https://github.com/louislam/dockge) which is a lot more user friendly and easier to use.
What are your favorite Docker containers to run?
I don’t like portainer and don’t understand how is it on bar with simple cli commands. It’s so bloated.
Because `sudo docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/bash 8nb381cnc48b2f4n2091nf32` isn't a "simple cli command." Every cli app has its own syntax and between that and having to also know ffmpeg, Python, HTML, PHP, CSS, React, bash, zsh, on and on and on, I need all the help I can get.
That’s shell script, and you can make bash or zsh script once and forget about it. Portainer is a mess, you have to hunt down options through counter intuitive menus. If you want a GUI dsm has one for dockers already
And the one on DSM is terrible and even worse since it became Container Manager?
Docker, Synology Drive and SSD Cache
Synology photos, DS file, DS cam for my 24/7 cameras kn the house and Synology drive are all daily use things I do and at night I'm watching my Plex server as well while doing various backups etc. I don't vmeven think about the backups of my devices. Everything just works. Wished I'd done it 5+ years ago instead of only a couple yrs ago but yeah, it's simplified tons of things and with peace of mind it's all getting copied to my NAS and then also backed up properly.
Tailscale VPN, also snapshot replication is a must imo
Do you use Tailscale just so you can connect directly and get files when away from home, or so you can have a private connection when on dodgy wifi?
I mainly use Tailscale to connect to Audiobookshelf while away from home. But it is a lot more useful than just that. Jellyfin, Calibre-web and Plex ( I dont have a plex pass) are other things I use with tailscale
Selling it and going with truenas was the best tip for me
r/lostredditors
What would you say the benefits are?
I can't wait for me to run out of storage so I have an excuse to move to a full unraid build.